Babylon contains moments of cinematic brilliance, but is ultimately too chaotic, anxiety-inducing, and I Ng (3 hrs!) to be enjoyable. It's a grotesque absurdist take on 1920s Hollywood - think wild sex-ridden parties, underground freak shows, vomit, and multiple death or near-death experiences. Manny - a Mexican immigrant - gets swept up in the system, willingly sublimating his own identity. Margot Robbie plays an It Girl whose Jersey accent means she struggles to transition to talkies. Brad Pitt plays an actor based on John Gilbert whose career and reputation also declined when talkies arrived on the scene, partly due to his effected stage-like delivery. The Artist and Singin' in the Rain also based characters on Gilbert and the latter is directly tied to this film in multiple scenes and storylines.
From Wikipedia: The film polarized critics, who generally praised its cinematography, score, editing, production design, lead performances and themes, but were sharply divided on its direction, screenplay, graphic content, and runtime.
I would not generally recommend this film, but cinephiles will probably want to see it. There's so much amazing footage here, I'd love to see another editor take a pass and give us a more cohesive film.
Shout by nftygirlBlockedParent2023-11-09T22:57:19Z
Babylon contains moments of cinematic brilliance, but is ultimately too chaotic, anxiety-inducing, and I Ng (3 hrs!) to be enjoyable. It's a grotesque absurdist take on 1920s Hollywood - think wild sex-ridden parties, underground freak shows, vomit, and multiple death or near-death experiences. Manny - a Mexican immigrant - gets swept up in the system, willingly sublimating his own identity. Margot Robbie plays an It Girl whose Jersey accent means she struggles to transition to talkies. Brad Pitt plays an actor based on John Gilbert whose career and reputation also declined when talkies arrived on the scene, partly due to his effected stage-like delivery. The Artist and Singin' in the Rain also based characters on Gilbert and the latter is directly tied to this film in multiple scenes and storylines.
From Wikipedia: The film polarized critics, who generally praised its cinematography, score, editing, production design, lead performances and themes, but were sharply divided on its direction, screenplay, graphic content, and runtime.
I would not generally recommend this film, but cinephiles will probably want to see it. There's so much amazing footage here, I'd love to see another editor take a pass and give us a more cohesive film.